Xylophone attachment for pianos.



J'. WIESER.

\ XYLOPHONE ATTACHMENT POR PIANOS.

APPLoATIoN FILED F'EB. 24, 1909.

932,212.v Y Patented Aug24,1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

"T, WIESER.V XYLOPHONE ATTACHMENT FOR PIANOS.

,- APPL'IoATIoN FILED H1124, 1909.

Patented Aug. 24, 1909.

2 SHEETS- SHEET 2.

UNITED srerus Persuader-rior,.-

.rosurn wmsnn. or slr. JOHNISVILLE, NEW YORK, Assumer. To r. ENIGELHARDT a sous, or se.

. 'JoHNsvILLE, NEW YORK, A Franz.

XYLOPHONE ATTACHMENT FOR '.PIAN'OS.

Specication oflLetters Patent. :Patented Aug, 24,1 Animation led February 24, 1909. Serial-No. 479,749.

To all whom itmoy concern: n

Be it known that I,JosEPH WIESER, a citi,-

zen of the United States, residing| at St.

Johnsville, Montgomery county, State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Xylophone Attachments for Pianos, of which'the following is a speci-.

ication.

This invention relates toa Xylophone attachment for pianos, which is tuned in uni son with the lower treble strings and serves to emphasize the melody played on the piano. The Xylophone beaters are operated y pneumatic means insuoh a manner that 'they will be actuated simult n'eously with.

the corresponding piano ha mers, so that one and the same lmpulse will stillice for operating a piano hammer and its'correspondmg Xylophone beater; 2Q In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1. 1s a front view of the upper portlon of a plano provided with my improved Xylophone at- I tachment, the piano action proper being omitted; Fig. 2 a Vertical cross section on 25 line 2 2, Fig. 1,showing the piano action;

Fig. 3 an enlarged vertical section through the Xylophone attachment, on' line 3*:3, Fig.` 1;1 ig. 4 a front view of onel of the pneumatics operating the Xylophone beat- Sc ers. Fig. 5 a crosssection on line 5--5, llig. 4; 'Fig'. 6 a. vertical longitudinal section on line (ie-G, Fig. 3, drawn on a .reduced scale; Fig. 7 a vertical-swtion on line 7 @7, Fig. l; Fig. 8 a verticalsection on line S-S, Fig. l; Fig. 9 an enlarged vertical section online 9 9 Fig.v 7; Fig. 1U a face View of the regulating valve, and Fig. 11` a side view, partly in section, of modified means for actuating the X ylophon'e. The numeral 15 indicates the, case'of an autopneumatic piano, said `case' 'inclosing strings 16, hammers 17, abstracts 1S, capstans 19 andkeys 20, all'as usual. Keys 20 4are adapted to be operated through lifters 21 from the action pneumatics, (not'shown), butl may also be operated manually. In order to l accentuate the tune or melody of the piece played, a Xylophone 22 is mounted infront of strings 16, the wooden bars 22, of which are tuned in unison with the lower-.set of the treble piano strings. The construction is such that the beaters 23'of the Xylophone are operated simultaneously `with the corresponding piano 'hammers 17. For this purpose there is mounted upon each ol t lose keys 20w-bieb are adapted to sound the Xylophone, an auxiliary capstan 24 placed kin front of eapstan 19. Capstan 24, when raised by the depression of its key, operates neumatic meansfor actuating beaters 23. lhese means consist of a longitudinal bar 25 i mounted in case 15 at a distance above keys 20 and extending across the same. Bar 25.' is, by arms 26, connected to a rail 27 sup` ported by lstandards 28 upon the key board '65 29. Bar 25 is provided with a row Aof perfo#y rations or ports 30, the number of which corresponds to the number of Xylophone beaters-' 23. The perforations 30 are normally closed at their bottom through airfinlet ValvesZO formed by the padded front arms of levers 31," which are pivoted to flanges 32` depending from rail 27. The padded rear arm Y'of each lever 31 is arranged above one of the capstans- 24, so that upon the ascentof suchcapstan, 7K5 thefront arm of lever 31 is withdrawn from bar 25 to open its lport $0.A Each" port 30 is connected by a tube 33 to a duct 34. formed below'the diaphragm 35 ol a primary valve` which is composed of a stem 36., an upper 8 0. valve disk 37 and a lower valve disk 38, stem 36 being supported upon diaphragm 35. rl`he primary valves are arranged within a Y lower valve block 39 mounted within casing 15 above bar 25. Disk plays within a` 85 vacuum chamber 4Q and contro s communi-y cation between said chamber and avduct 41, while disk 37 ('-ontrols eoinniun'icatio'n. bev tween said duct and the atmosphere. Duct 41 is by tube' 42co'ni'iected to a passage 43 90 formed below. the diaphragm 4 4 of a .seeondary valve arranged within an upper valve block 45 located above block 39. Each seconday Valve comprises a stem 46 resting upon diitphragm 44', av 'lower valve disk- 47 95 controlling communication between a vacuum chamber-48 and aduct 4 9, 'and an up )er valve disk 5l) controlling communication e-` tween said duct and the atmosphere. Duct 49 is, by a tube 51, connected to the interior 100 of a pneumatic or bellows 52 arranged above valve block 4 5. To the movablc'board of pneumatic 52 is connected, by a flexible strap 53, the shank 54 of beater Shank 54 is guided within a padded slot 55 formed in a 105 bar 56 which is secured to the' movable board of pneumatic 52.

Vacuum chambers 40, 48 are, by longitudinal ducts 57, 58, respectively, connected to a vertical transvca'se duct 59 lormed within a 110 head 6() connecting blocks 39 yand 45. From duct 59 there lcndsa tube 61'-to :in inclined duct 62 controlled by a rotary valve plug 63l, operable by a handle 64 carried by the head 65,0f the plug. Duct 62 is, by lduct 66, adapted to communicate with a tube 67 which leads to the main vacuum bellows, (not shown). y

The operation is as follows: 'Upon the `de pression of one of the lower treble keys 20, capstans 19 and 24 are raised. The ascent of capstan 19 will cause the correspondimg piano hammer 17l to strike its string, while beater 23 of the Xylophone attachment is actuated in the following manner: By raising capstan 24, lever 31 is tilted to swing its forward end oii bar and rthus admit air into port 30. As the air is continuously -withdrawn from chamber 40 through ducts 57, 59, tube 61, duct 62,0pen valve 63, duct l66fand tube 67, the opening of port 30 will cause dia hragm 35 to ascend, thereby closing va ve 38 and opening valve 37. Air4 will thus be admitted through duct 41, tube 42 and duct 43, below diaphragm 44. The air being constantly Withdrawn from chaml. ber 48 through duct 58, diaphragm 44 will 'ascend to close valve 50 and open valve 47.

Air will thus be withdrawn from pneumatic 52-through duct 49 and tube 51, to cause a collapse of the pneumatic and a corresponding t irow of beater 23 `against a bar 22a of the'xylophone 22. `As the beater-shank 54 is yieldingly connected to the movable board of pneumatic 52, beaterv 23 will rebound, after striking its bar, to produce a pure note. When key 2() is released, port 30 is ,closed by lever 21, whereupon the air is withdrawn from duct 34through passage 68 and a bleedhole 6), to cause a descent ofthe primar valve. In this way valve 37 will be close while valve 3S is opened to connect vacuum chamber 40 with d uct 43. Owing to the withdrawal of the air from duct 43, diaplnagm44 will d scend tovclose valve 47 and pen valve 50. Air will Vthus be admitted o through open valve 50, duct 49 and tube 51, into pneumatic 52, so that the latter will be `eX andcd by a spring 70.

I y properly adjusting valve 63, the suction within pneumatics 52 and consequently i lated, so

the force of the beater-stroke may be reguxs to render the Xylophone accompaniment more or less impressive. By closing` Valvel 63, the Xylophone attachment may be completely silenced, as will be readily understood.

In Fig. 11I modified means for. operating the xylo )hone attachment are illustrated.

This mo iiication is intended to beused with those pianos in `which the lifter 71, operated by the action mcumatic, (not shown), does not influence the abstract 18 direct y. As shown, a cushioned screw 72 is' tapped into an arm 73 projecting' gg'ling the rear`arm oflever 31.v described,

the Xylophone, 'so `that `the instrument is of entertainment. the Xylophone beattional tune sheets adapted to operate a piano I-claim:

forato( bar extending'across the keys, valves forward-ly from the abstract, said screw ent will be seen that by thefmea'ns the melody played on the iano'ls emphasized Aand more effectively' rought out-by more particullarl adapted for usefin .ball rooms, skating rmks and other large. places lers are actuated by the same lifters that operate the piano hammers, the conven-` may be utilized without'change, for playing vmy instrument.

1. A musical instrument comprising a series of iano hammers, a ser1esof keys, a peractuated by the keys and controlling the .barperforations, a series of Xylophone heaters,

piano key, butactuates the g andA pneumatic actuating means intermediate the perforated bar and said beaters.

2. A musical instrument comprising a se-` ries of iano hammers, a series of keys, a pertoratc( Abar extendlngacross the keys, levervalves controlling the bar-perforatlons, capstans'on the keys engaging the lever-valves,

JOSEPH WIESER.

Witnesses z y JOHN D. CAIRNs,

FRED D'. STonMs. 

